Pima County to fix more than 100 miles of roads in 2023-24 fiscal year

PIMA COUNTY, July 6, 2023 — Pima County will repair and preserve 107.94 miles of its roads over the next 12 months as part of its ongoing Road Repair and Preservation Program.

Neighborhoods with portions of their roads scheduled to be repaired or treated include Bear Canyon Hills, Heritage Hills, Linda Vista Terrace and Sabino Vista Hills. The County will also be repairing and treating stretches of arterial and collector roads such as Bilby Road, Overton Road, Orange Grove Road, Sahuarita Road and Picture Rocks Road.

To see the full list of roads scheduled for repairs and treatments, as well as a list of all road repairs completed since the program began in 2020, visit https://www.pima.gov/1004/Road-Pavement-Repair-and-Preservation-Pr.

“The Transportation Department is proud to be starting the fifth year of our Road Repair and Preservation Program,” said Kathryn Skinner, Director of the Pima County Department of Transportation. “This program has been hugely successful due to the hard work of our contracting community and county staff, building partnerships that have allowed us to improve hundreds of miles of roadway.” 

The program is funded using existing revenue, generated by state and local taxes, to fund transportation and infrastructure projects. The County has invested more than $269 million in the program to date, including advancing $150 million to repair more roads ahead of schedule.

The 2023/2024 budget, approved by the Pima County Board of Supervisors at its June 20 meeting, sets aside $14 million for milling and paving roads and $6 million for preservation treatments that will extend the pavement life of roads. Another $23 million will also be allocated to transportation capital projects.

“The fiscal year 2024 program includes funding for preservation treatments on local roads,” Skinner explained. “This addition is important to create a program that is sustainable over the long term.”

Since it was launched, the County’s Road Pavement Repair and Preservation has milled and paved 854 miles of roads, installed 2,200 curb access ramps and applied preservation treatments to 172 miles of roadway. This year’s schedule includes preservation treatments for 73.83 miles of roads and milling and paving repairs for 34.11 miles of roads.

When the program launched in 2020, more than 75 percent of the roads in unincorporated Pima County were rated as fair or poor. Now, 75 percent of unincorporated County roads are rated as good or very good.

The Pima County Department of Transportation uses two methods to select roads for repair. Local roads are chosen by prioritizing the roads that are in the poorest condition first, while arterial and collector roads are chosen by identifying treatments with the best return on investment. Preservation treatments are chosen based on the condition of the road, what and when the last treatment was applied, and which treatment will be the most cost effective in extending the life of the pavement.